Rating: 2.5/5
Hooptober 7.0 | 12/32 | 2nd film in franchise 4/7 | Decades 4/6 | 1970s
Phillip Lamont (Richard Burton) prays to Father Lankkester Merrin (Max von Sydow) for aid in exorcizing a woman in a Latin American community. The woman knocks over the candles, setting herself and the building ablaze. The Cardinal asks Lamont to look into Father Merrin’s death — the events of The Exorcist. Their goal is to remove Satan from the church by proving his lack of involvement in Merrin’s death.
Regan (Linda Blair) leads an average life, dancing in a school show and flirting with a saxophone player. She sees a psychiatrist, Dr. Gene Tuskin (Louise Fletcher). Regan claims not to remember what happened to her, but Dr. Tuskin doesn’t believe her.
Lamont comes to see Regan to ask her about her past, but Dr. Tuskin advises against it. The two fight over possession versus mental illness. Dr. Tuskin hooks Regan to a biofeedback machine that synchronizes two people’s brainwaves. Dr. Tuskin takes the other end, and Lamont questions Regan. Dr. Tuskin gets lost, so Lamont takes Regan’s place to find her.
Lamont sees Regan possessed by Pazuzu, killing Father Merrin.
It was horrible. Utterly horrible. And fascinating.
Regan draws a picture of Lamont in flames. He understands it as a message that something is on fire. He runs down to the basement and finds a box in flames. For Lamont, it confirms that Regan still contains Pazuzu — locked away, but not for long.
As a horror fan, I’ve learned to abandon setting expectations around comparisons between sequels and originals. The disappointment hinders any appreciation of the sequel.
The first hypnosis scene in the glass octagon is so bonkers! I’ve never seen this type of scene played out this way. Everyone’s performance is solid, but Richard Burton taps into an authentic shock that elevates the scene.
The scenes in Africa are offensive and reductive. They’re also ridiculous and entertaining — flying from the perspective of locust? Hell yeah.
My feelings about the scene with the girl with autism are unclear.
This movie suffers in the same way as Doctor Sleep — when it’s in fresh territory, it’s at least interesting. But when it has to come back to Exorcist stuff, it gets boring.
Because of the glut of possession movies we’ve had (and another reboot of The Exorcist), a possession movie like this feels relatively refreshing.
This movie isn’t great, but it’s far from the “worst sequel in the history of film.”